PUBLICATION OF DISPLAY ENERGY CERTIFICATE AND NON-DOMESTIC ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE DATA

This guidance is to be read in conjunction with the publication of the first data release of Non-domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and Display Energy Certificate (DEC) data.

General background

Almost 40% of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions come from the way our buildings are heated and used. Even comparatively small changes in energy performance and the way a building is used will have a significant effect in reducing energy consumption.

The requirement for energy certificates for buildings flows from the EU Directive on the energy performance of buildings. The principle underlying the requirements of the EU Directive on the energy performance of buildings is to make the energy efficiency of buildings transparent through the provision of energy certificates and to show how the energy efficiency of the building can be improved.

Regulatory context

The requirements for non-domestic EPCs and DECs came into effect in 2008. Buildings must have an EPC when constructed, sold or let. Larger buildings occupied by a public authority and frequently visited by the public must have an energy certificate (referred to as a DEC) in England and Wales.

Regulatory and administrative amendments made since the requirements in England and Wales came into effect have altered the content, format and accessibility of data lodged on the Non-domestic Energy Performance of Buildings Register (the register) for England and Wales.

An EPC is required when a non-domestic building is constructed, sold or rented out:

a. from 6 April 2008 for those buildings with a total useful floor area greater than 10,000m² b. from 1 July 2008 for buildings with a total useful floor area greater than 2,500m² c. from 1 October 2008 for all remaining buildings that are non-dwellings, save for a few exempted buildings.

The requirement for buildings over 1,000m² occupied by public authorities and frequently visited by the public to have a DEC came into effect on 1 October 2008. This size threshold was lowered to buildings over 500m² on 9 January 2013.

EPCs for non-domestic buildings are valid for 10 years or until a newer EPC is produced for building, if earlier. DECs for buildings over 1,000m² are valid for one year. DECs of 1,000m² or less are valid for 10 years.

EPC and DEC data

This is the first time that non-domestic EPCs and DECs have been released in this way. This information is comprised of DECs and EPCs for England and Wales. For an EPC and DEC to be valid the energy certificate or the data from which it was created must be lodged on the Non-domestic Energy Performance of Buildings Register (the register) by an accredited energy assessor.

The data is drawn from EPCs issued for non-domestic buildings which have been newly constructed, sold or let since 2008. Data from DECs issued for buildings occupied by public authorities also dates back to 2008. It provides information on the energy efficiency of buildings during the energy assessment process. This data release includes data for buildings with multiple EPCs or DECs that have been issued since 2008 as well as for buildings where only a single energy certificate has been issued. Please note that this data does not reflect the actual building stock across England and Wales.

The department has chosen not to publish any data where the holder of the energy certificate has ‘opted-out’ of disclosure; certificates excluded on grounds of national security and ‘cancelled’ energy certificates or those marked as ‘not for issue’. DECs that can be identified as ‘voluntary’ (some organisations choose to have a DEC produced even though they are not required to do so by the regulations) are also excluded.

However, due to third-party intellectual property rights, the data is published under a copyright notice which prohibits the re-use of the published information for commercial purposes.

The department is working to provide more suitable access to energy performance of buildings data in future; this work will supersede individual publications such as this one.

**Data quality**

Primary responsibility for the robustness of the data in relation to individual buildings lies with the energy assessor who carried out the energy assessment. Additional validation checks are undertaken as the data is lodged. In addition, improved quality assurance procedures for energy assessor accreditation schemes have been introduced.

The regulations do not permit the data to be altered once it has been lodged on the register, although energy certificates can be marked as ‘not for issue’ for a range of reasons. The data has, therefore, been published without any changes or alterations. Users are asked to recognise that there may be anomalies in the published data. For example, data fields marked as ‘invalid’ are outside of the values normally contained within these data fields, i.e. a negative value.

The data also contains DECs with an operational rating of ‘9999’ (a ‘default’ DEC). The production of a ‘default’ DEC value was allowed to enable building occupiers, with poor quality or no energy data, the opportunity to comply with the regulations. From April 2011 the ability to lodge a ‘default’ DEC was no longer permitted.

The Building Emission Rate (BER) was only lodged on the register from 7 March 2010; therefore, the data field may contain a ‘blank’ value. In spite of these data quality issues, we are publishing this information because we believe it to be of value to the public.

## Data items

| Non-domestic EPC | Description | Base Data Type | |------------------|-------------|----------------| | BUILDING NAME | The name of the building (only if recorded by the energy assessor). | string | | BUILDING NUMBER | Value which uniquely identifies the building part in the property. | Integer | | ADDR1 | Address Line 1 | string | | ADDR2 | Address Line 2 | string | | ADDR3 | Address Line 3 | string | | ADDR4 | Address Line 4 | string | | POST TOWN | Post Town of the building | string | | POSTCODE | Postcode of the building | string | | ENERGY RATING | The Asset Rating. The CO₂ emissions from the actual building in comparison to a Standard Emission Rate. | Integer (kg/CO₂/m²) | | ENERGY RATING DESCRIPTION | The Asset rating converted into an energy band/grade into a linear ‘A to G’ scale (where A+ is the most efficient followed by A and G is the least energy efficient). | string | | BUILDING EMISSION RATE | Annual CO₂ emissions from the actual building. | Decimal (kg/CO₂/m²) | | FLOOR AREA | The total useful floor area is the total of all enclosed spaces measured to the internal face of the external walls, i.e. the gross floor area as measured in accordance with the guidance issued from time to time by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors or by any body replacing that institution. | Decimal (m²) | | LODGEMENT DATE TIME | Date and time the certificate (or the data which produces the certificate) was lodged on the Non-domestic Energy Performance of Buildings Register. | Date (dd/mm/yyyy) / time (hh:mm) |

| Display Energy Certificates | Description | Base Data Type | |-----------------------------|-------------|----------------| | BUILDING NAME | The name of the building (only if recorded by the energy assessor). | string | | BUILDING NUMBER | Value which uniquely identifies the building part in the property. | Integer | | ADDR1 | Address Line 1 | string | | ADDR2 | Address Line 2 | string | | ADDR3 | Address Line 3 | string | | ADDR4 | Address Line 4 | string | | POST TOWN | Post Town of the building | string | | POSTCODE | Postcode of the building | string | |----------|--------------------------|--------| | OPERATIONAL RATING (CURRENT YEAR) | An operational rating (OR) is a measure of the annual (CO₂) emission per unit of area of the building caused by its consumption of energy, compared to a value that would be considered typical for the particular type of building. The Operational Rating (OR) shows the energy performance of the building as used by the occupants over a 12 month period. The numbers do not represent actual units of energy consumed they represent comparative energy efficiency. A building with performance equal to one typical of its type (the benchmark) would have an OR of 100. A building that resulted in zero CO₂ emissions would have an OR of zero and a building that resulted in twice the typical CO₂ emissions would have an OR of 200. | Integer (kg/CO₂/m²) | | ENERGY RATING DESCRIPTION | Operational Rating on a scale from A to G, where A is the lowest CO₂ emissions (best) and G is the highest CO₂ emissions (worst). | string | | RENEWABLES FUEL (HEATING) THERMAL | The percentage of electricity and of heating (fuel and heat) energy obtained from 'renewables' (taken as Low and Zero Carbon, i.e. on-site renewable energy and Low Carbon) sources. If none exists a zero value is provided. | Integer (%) | | RENEWABLES ELECTRICAL | The total useful floor area is the total of all enclosed spaces measured to the internal face of the external walls, i.e. the gross floor area as measured in accordance with the guidance issued from time to time by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors or by any body replacing that institution. | Decimal (m²) | | FLOOR AREA | Date marking the beginning of the validity period of the energy certificate. | Date (dd/mm/yyyy) | | NOMINATED DATE | Date and time the certificate (or the data which produces the certificate) was lodged on the Non-domestic Energy Performance of Buildings Register. | Date (dd/mm/yyyy) / time (hh:mm) | | LODGEMENT DATE TIME | Date and time the certificate (or the data which produces the certificate) was lodged on the Non-domestic Energy Performance of Buildings Register. | Date (dd/mm/yyyy) / time (hh:mm) |